Last Man Out

“‘First one in,’ she said, as if talking to herself. ‘Last one out.’”

This line is spoken by Tommy’s mother as they rush to the hospital and introduces a central motif. The phrase encapsulates the self-sacrificing ethos of firefighting that defines Patrick’s life and death. Its utterance in a moment of distress solidifies it as a family mantra. As the novel continues, Tommy grapples with the motto as he tries to understand his father’s legacy and apply his lessons to his own life.

“Now all the pictures in their frames had been organized around that helmet, with the number 41 on the front.”

This description establishes Patrick’s helmet as a symbol of his legacy and thus connects to the theme of Redefining Identity After the Loss of a Parent. The arrangement of family photos around the helmet illustrates how his public role as a firefighter has become the central organizing principle of his memory, overshadowing his private identity. The helmet is transformed into the centerpiece of a shrine, representing the weight of the legacy that Patrick has left behind, a weight that Tommy feels he must carry.

“We’ve got a whole lifetime of nights like this ahead of us.”

Delivered by Patrick during a flashback, this line employs dramatic irony to convey the magnitude of the family’s loss. The promise of a shared future contrasts with the reader’s knowledge of Patrick’s impending death. This juxtaposition heightens the emotional weight of Tommy’s memories and highlights the void left by his father.

“If there’s a death in one of our families, there’s a death in this family. You understand that, right?”

In his address to the team, Coach Fisher positions the team as a surrogate family for Tommy. The use of italics for “this” underscores the collective identity and mutual responsibility he expects, connecting to the theme of The Power of Mentorship and Solidarity. The speech foreshadows how Tommy’s teammates and coach help him manage his grief over the course of his complicated football season.

“‘No, Tommy,’ Coach said. ‘You’re out of control.’”

This excerpt represents a turning point in the novel. Coach Fisher’s statement is the first time an authority figure confronts Tommy about his destructive behavior. Fisher’s dialogue adds nuance to the theme of sports as an emotional outlet. Although the football field can be a constructive outlet for the protagonist’s complex feelings, it can also become a venue for negative displays of Tommy’s unresolved anger over his father’s death.

“Why hadn’t his dad read the situation better in that burning house? […] At the worst possible moment, why had it been Patrick Gallagher, the dad who’d always told him to be a step ahead instead of a step behind, who’d been a couple of steps too slow?”

Tommy’s internal monologue reveals a shift in his grieving process from sorrow to questioning his father’s infallibility. The rhetorical questions demonstrate his struggle to reconcile Patrick’s heroic identity with the human error that may have led to his death, which mirrors Tommy’s efforts to understand who he is independent of his father. This passage highlights Tommy’s need to understand the man behind the hero as a crucial step in processing his loss.

“‘I know you,’ Coach said. ‘I know how good you are at picking up snap counts. You started and then you stopped on that play. You didn’t trust yourself, and that’s why you were a step slow.’”

Coach Fisher assumes the role of a surrogate father, echoing the guidance that Tommy received from Patrick. His analysis of Tommy’s hesitation pinpoints an internal effect of grief: the self-doubt that undermines his talent. This interaction reinforces the theme of the power of mentorship by showing another adult figure stepping in to reiterate Patrick’s lessons about trusting one’s instincts.

“He never said this to anybody, not even to his dad when he’d still been alive, but playing defense made Tommy feel like he was saving the other guys on his team, the way his dad had saved people.”

Through this internal reflection, the narrative explicitly connects Tommy’s athletic identity to his father’s profession. The comparison of playing defense to “saving people” elevates football beyond a game, framing it as the primary way Tommy attempts to emulate his father’s heroic legacy. This passage reveals how his sense of self is intertwined with his father’s heroism, underscoring his struggle to redefine his identity after his father’s death.

“‘I just quit the team,’ she said. ‘Can we go home now, please?’”

Emily’s declaration marks a pivotal moment in her character arc. The abruptness of the statement illustrates a grief response that is the opposite of Tommy’s: Where he becomes more aggressive, she withdraws completely. The line’s brevity and flat tone convey the character’s emotional shutdown, highlighting how trauma can sever a person’s connection to their passions and how everyone responds to grief differently.

“‘You’re not afraid, are you?’ he said. […]

‘I’m not afraid of anything,’ Patrick Gallagher’s son said.”

This exchange establishes skateboarding as a new arena for Tommy to express his emotions. Mike’s question is a direct challenge to Tommy’s courage, a core component of his identity. Lupica advances the theme of redefining identity after the loss of a parent by identifying the protagonist as “Patrick Gallagher’s son.” This phrasing directly links the boy’s acceptance of the challenge to the pressure he feels to live up to his father’s heroic legacy.

“Tommy put his right shoulder pad on the ball, blasting it out of Kyle’s hands and into the Chargers’ backfield.”

This sentence uses active, visceral language to capture Tommy’s decisive, game-saving action. The verb “blasting” contrasts sharply with the hesitation that plagued him in previous games, signifying a breakthrough where he fully trusts his instincts. The description of the hit marks a moment of pure athletic execution in which Tommy redeems himself from his earlier bad plays and reclaims his identity as a dominant player.

“‘At the church,’ she said, ‘everybody talked about Daddy’s spirit, and how his spirit will never go away. I wanted to see if I could find it here.’

‘Did you?’ Uncle Brendan said.

‘No,’ Em said. ‘He’s just as gone here as he is at home.’”

This dialogue reveals the depth of Emily’s grief as she searches in vain for her father’s spiritual presence. Her conclusion that he is “just as gone” at the firehouse articulates the child’s struggle with the finality of loss.

“‘Hey, sis: You ever think about going back to save your soccer team?’ […] But when Tommy said that, the ball finally dropped.

‘I can’t,’ she said, in a voice Tommy could barely hear.”

In this scene, the soccer ball reflects Emily’s emotional state. The act of the ball dropping mirrors her emotional collapse and represents her inability to carry the weight of her passion while grieving. Her barely audible reply, “I can’t,” underscores how her trauma severs her from a core part of her identity and makes her feel powerless.

“As much as he did love football, though, he’d started to realize something over the past couple of weeks. Football wasn’t everything to him the way it used to be. Which made him realize something else: He needed more. Skateboarding was more.”

This passage marks a significant shift in Tommy’s identity. The declaration “Skateboarding was more” separates his sense of self from the sport connected to his father and establishes skateboarding as a motif of his search for a new identity after his father’s death. This shift also connects to the theme of sports as an emotional outlet by showing how Tommy desires a new, personal arena for self-definition and challenge.

“Blake must have heard him, because he smiled that smile and said, ‘Who’s that guy, your dad?’”

Blake’s taunt inadvertently weaponizes Patrick’s memory and demonstrates how the football field has become a flashpoint for Tommy’s unresolved pain. The question transforms a sports rivalry into what feels like a personal attack, triggering the violent outburst that has been building throughout the season and marking a key moment for the theme of sports as an emotional outlet.

“Tommy wasn’t sure who he was anymore. He wondered how you were supposed to turn on the fight in you one second, trying to fight through the pain of losing someone, and turn it off the next, keeping your fists to yourself.”

This excerpt captures Tommy’s internal conflict. The rhetorical question illustrates his confusion over how to channel the “fight” of grief into acceptable forms of strength, a key component of the theme of sports as an emotional outlet. The passage reveals his growing awareness that the aggressive instincts valued in football can prove harmful when driven by his emotional pain.

“Tommy smiled. Because he’d loved it. Loved. It. […] He was laughing his head off.”

After a dangerous fall, Tommy’s laughter signifies a turning point in his emotional journey. The fragmentation in “Loved. It.” emphasizes the raw thrill he experiences while skateboarding, which contrasts with the pressure of football. This moment solidifies skateboarding’s role as an emotional outlet that allows Tommy to confront fear on his own terms and reclaim a sense of joy and control.

“He’d watch one of his teammates, like Greck, walking from the field to the parking lot, and Greck’s dad would put his arm around his shoulder, and Tommy would feel as if he’d been punched hard in the stomach.”

This simile captures the pain of Tommy’s grief, which ordinary occurrences like the sight of a father and son can trigger at any time. By likening the emotional pain to a physical blow, the passage conveys the sudden and debilitating impact of loss. The image illustrates how, despite his efforts to move forward, his father’s absence remains a constant, painful presence that reshapes his perception of the world.

“But what she did, as mad as she got, the way she shot out of the stands to defend you, it was like I was watching her come back to life.”

Tommy and Emily’s mother reframes Emily’s outburst as a sign of emotional reawakening. The simile “like I was watching her come back to life” articulates the girl’s transformation from passive suffering to active engagement. This moment marks a turning point for Emily’s character and illustrates how she is on her own journey of redefining her identity.

“Suddenly Tommy heard his dad’s voice inside his head, telling him something Yankees Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra had once said: You can observe a lot by watching.”

This excerpt exemplifies the theme of the power of mentorship, as Patrick’s guidance manifests as an internal voice for Tommy at a critical moment. The memory shows how Patrick’s teachings endure after his death and become part of Tommy’s thought process. Tommy acts on this lesson by analyzing the game as his father would, demonstrating how Patrick’s wisdom continues to shape his actions.

“The fear just made it more exciting.”

As Tommy attempts a dangerous skateboarding stunt, the narrator links the boy’s fear with excitement. This passage captures skateboarding’s thematic function as a high-risk outlet for the protagonist’s inner turmoil; he seeks a sense of control and an adrenaline rush that contrasts with the powerlessness of his grief. The sentence’s directness underscores the reasoning behind his reckless behavior and illustrates how sports can become a complicated outlet for emotions.

“I already lost someone because he loved taking chances so much. I’m not going to lose you, too!”

Spoken by Tommy’s mother after his skateboarding accident, this dialogue directly connects his recklessness to the trauma of his father’s death. Her exclamation juxtaposes Patrick’s heroic public identity with the private consequences of his risk-taking. The line reveals the fear underlying her grief, framing her son’s dangerous choices as a potential repetition of that loss.

“He would never forget the smile that came over his dad’s face, as if somebody had shined a light on him. ‘Especially when it’s dangerous.’”

This flashback encapsulates Patrick’s identity. The simile “as if somebody had shined a light on him” shows how danger gives the firefighter a sense of purpose. His concluding line serves as a definitive statement for his character, articulating a worldview that defines his bravery and foreshadows his fate.